搜索引擎优化工作的收费模式没有统一行业标准,不同服务商的计费口径差异较大,需求方在选择时容易因口径不一致而难以直接比较。了解常见计费方式的构成、适用场景和核对重点,有助于按项目阶段和目标匹配合适的合作方式。
按关键词排名计费是较早出现的模式,通常以指定关键词进入搜索结果前若干位作为收费触发条件,按词、按月或按达标周期结算。这种模式的优点是目标明确,费用与可见结果直接挂钩,适合关键词数量有限、排名目标清晰的中小项目。需要注意的是,该模式通常只覆盖约定的关键词列表,不包含网站整体流量、转化或品牌词表现,且排名结果会受搜索引擎算法调整影响,合作前应明确达标判定的搜索引擎、设备端、位置区间和数据查询方式。
按项目整体打包计费通常围绕一个完整优化周期设定总价,周期多为3个月、6个月或12个月,费用覆盖技术诊断、站内优化、内容规划、外链建设等约定模块。这种模式适合首次做SEO、需要系统性调整的网站,服务商可以按阶段推进基础建设,不必局限于单个关键词的短期波动。核对时应明确各阶段交付物、汇报频率、人员配置和调整机制,避免因范围模糊导致后续追加费用。
按流量增长计费以约定周期内的自然搜索流量增量为核算依据,常见形式是基础服务费加增量提成,或完全按新增流量阶梯定价。这种模式更贴近网站的实际获客需求,适合已有一定内容基础、希望扩大整体流量规模的站点。由于流量受季节、行业周期、算法更新等多重因素影响,合作前需要明确基准流量的统计周期、排除流量类型、归因规则和数据统计工具,避免因口径不同产生争议。
按咨询或工时计费适用于专项问题解决,例如技术SEO审计、结构化数据部署、国际站点优化方案等,通常按顾问级别和服务时长收费。这种模式灵活度高,企业可以根据内部团队能力补充外部专业支持,不必签订长期优化合同。选择时应明确顾问的职责边界、交付形式和响应时效,同时确认是否包含后续的落地指导或仅提供方案建议。
按内容产出计费多见于以内容优化为核心的SEO项目,费用按文章篇数、字数或内容模块结算,通常包含关键词研究、内容撰写和基础站内优化。这种模式适合内容缺口较大、需要持续更新的站点,企业可以按内容节奏控制投入。需要留意的是,单纯的内容产出不等于排名提升,若同时关注搜索效果,应在合同中明确内容的SEO标准,例如关键词覆盖、结构规范、结构化数据配置等,避免只追求数量而忽略质量。
不同项目阶段适合的计费方式并不相同。新站或基础薄弱的站点,优先考虑项目打包模式完成技术和内容基础建设;已有稳定基础、目标明确的站点,可以结合关键词排名或流量增长模式绑定效果方向;有内部执行团队、仅需专业指导的场景,选择咨询或工时模式更灵活;内容缺口明显的站点,则可先从内容产出计费入手补充资源。无论选择哪种模式,都应在合作前把计费口径、统计方式、交付边界和调整机制书面确认,减少后续沟通成本。
参考来源
- SEO - MDN Web 文档术语表:Web 相关术语的定义 | MDN - MDN Web Docs
- seo优化是做什么的?企业做SEO能解决什么问题_客户_内容_网站 - 手机搜狐网
- # Official SEO Guidelines Cheatsheet (Google Search Central, Bing, Schema.org, MDN) **Last updated:** 2026-05-03 **Source:** https://www.lawrencehitches.com/seo-official-guidelines-cheatsheet/ --- Distilled from Google Search Essentials and the Quality guidelines.Download PNGtrong>This is a quick-reference cheatsheet to the official SEO guidelines that matter most in 2026: Google Search Central, Bing Webmaster, Schema.org, MDN's robots.txt spec, and IndexNow. Each entry summarises what the official documentation says, what it actually means in practice, and links to the source. I built this because the official docs are scattered across half a dozen sites and dozens of pages. When you're trying to confirm a single rule (e.g. "does Google still support FAQ schema on non-FAQ pages?") it's faster to scan one page than to hunt through five. ## Google Search Central, The Core Pages You Should Bookmark ### Title Link Best Practices Google's official guidance on writing title elements (the source for what becomes the title link in search results). Keep titles unique, descriptive, and concise. Google may rewrite your title link if it finds a better match for the query, typical rewrite rate is 40-60% across the web. **In practice:** write titles 50-60 characters, lead with the primary keyword, include brand at the end on supporting pages but at the start on commercial money pages. [developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/title-link](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/title-link) ### Heading Tags (SEO Starter Guide) Use heading tags to signal structure. The starter guide doesn't say "you must have one H1" but it does say to use headings to convey structure and meaning. Skipping heading levels is allowed but discouraged. Heading text matters more than the level number for ranking signal. **In practice:** one H1 per page (covered in our [header tags guide](https://www.lawrencehitches.com/header-tags/)), H2s for main sections, H3s only when an H2 has multiple subsections. [developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/seo-starter-guide](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/seo-starter-guide) ### Qualify Outbound Links: Sponsored, UGC, Nofollow Three link attributes to declare relationships: - `rel="sponsored"` , paid, affiliate, advertising links - `rel="ugc"` , user-generated content (comments, forum posts) - `rel="nofollow"` , generic "don't pass equity"; still the default if you can't be more specific **In practice:** always disclose paid links with `sponsored`. Default to `nofollow` for generic untrusted links. Use `ugc` on comment sections. [developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies#qualify-outbound-links) ### Structured Data: FAQPage Guidelines FAQPage schema is supported but with restrictions since 2023: Google only displays FAQ rich results from "well-known authoritative" government and health sites. Other sites can still mark up FAQs (and AI search engines like Perplexity and ChatGPT use the schema as an extraction signal), but the visible SERP enhancement is gone for most domains. **In practice:** still ship FAQPage schema. The SERP rich result is gone for most sites, but AI engines parse it. We auto-generate it on every [article on this site](https://www.lawrencehitches.com/articles/). [developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/faqpage](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/faqpage) ### Helpful, Reliable, People-First Content (incl. YMYL) Google's content quality framework. The "Your Money or Your Life" (YMYL) categories, finance, health, safety, legal, are held to higher E-E-A-T standards. The 2022 Helpful Content Update made content quality a sitewide signal: a domain with a lot of unhelpful content gets demoted across the board. **In practice:** for YMYL topics, name the author (with credentials), cite sources, show direct experience. For everything else, write content that genuinely helps a human reader more than the next-best-ranking competitor. [developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/creating-helpful-content](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/creating-helpful-content) ### AI Features and Your Website Google's documentation on how AI Overviews and Search Generative Experience use content. Standard SEO best practices apply, there's no separate "AI optimisation" requirement. Google does provide opt-out controls via `Google-Extended` in robots.txt for excluding content from training (covered in our [robots.txt guide](https://www.lawrencehitches.com/robotstxt/)). [developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features) ## Google Business Profile, Local SEO Documentation ### Business Description: 750 Character Limit The "from the business" section in Google Business Profile is capped at 750 characters. Google's official guidelines say: don't use it for promotional content, sales, or links. Use it to describe what the business does and what makes it distinct. **In practice:** first 250 characters carry the most weight (visible without "read more"). Lead with what you do + city + the differentiator that matters most. [support.google.com/business/answer/7091](https://support.google.com/business/answer/7091?hl=en) ## Bing Webmaster Guidelines, Often Forgotten, Worth Reading ### Bing Webmaster Guidelines for AI Search Bing officially documents how its AI search (powering Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT search, and the broader OpenAI ecosystem) uses website content. Bing recommends: clear, well-structured content; semantic HTML; structured data; and accessibility best practices. Bing also officially supports IndexNow for instant indexing. **In practice:** Bing has been undervalued by SEOs for a decade, but in 2026 it powers ChatGPT search, Copilot, and an increasing share of AI-mediated queries. Worth optimising for. See our [Google vs Bing guide](https://www.lawrencehitches.com/google-vs-bing/) for the case. [bing.com/webmasters/help/webmasters-guidelines](https://www.bing.com/webmasters/help/webmasters-guidelines-30fba23a) ## Schema.org, The Structured Data Reference ### Schema.org Type Library Schema.org is the canonical reference for structured data types. The hierarchy starts at `Thing` and branches into hundreds of specialised types: `Article`, `Product`, `LocalBusiness`, `Person`, `Organization`, `Event`, etc. **Specialised LocalBusiness sub-types worth knowing** (Google supports them all): - `Restaurant` , for restaurants, cafes, bars - `MedicalBusiness` , for clinics, doctors, hospitals - `HealthAndBeautyBusiness` , for spas, salons, beauty clinics - `AutomotiveBusiness` , for dealerships, mechanics - `LegalService` , for law firms - `FinancialService` , for accountants, financial advisors **In practice:** use the most specific type that applies. `HealthAndBeautyBusiness` beats generic `LocalBusiness` for a salon, Google reads it as a stronger entity signal. [schema.org/docs/full.html](https://schema.org/docs/full.html) ### Structured Data Testing The official validators: - [Google Rich Results Test](https://search.google.com/test/rich-results) , checks if your schema qualifies for SERP enhancements - [Schema.org Validator](https://validator.schema.org/) , generic syntax + spec validation ## Robots.txt, MDN and the Robots Exclusion Standard ### MDN Robots.txt Documentation Mozilla Developer Network's robots.txt page covers the core spec: `User-agent`, `Disallow`, `Allow`, `Crawl-delay` (Google ignores this), `Sitemap`. The 2022 RFC 9309 formalised the de-facto standard most major search engines have followed for two decades. **In practice:** our [robots.txt guide](https://www.lawrencehitches.com/robotstxt/) covers the 2026 reality including AI crawler controls (GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, etc.) which aren't in the original spec but are now de-facto standard. [developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Glossary/Robots.txt](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Glossary/Robots.txt) ## IndexNow, Faster Indexing Across Search Engines ### IndexNow Participating Search Engines (2026) IndexNow is an open protocol that lets sites push instant indexing pings to multiple search engines at once. As of 2026, the participating engines are: - **Bing** (Microsoft), original co-founder of the protocol - **Yandex** , co-founder; matters for sites targeting Russian-language audiences - **Naver** , Korea's dominant search engine; added 2023 - **Seznam** , Czech Republic; added 2022 - **Yep** , privacy-focused search; added 2023 - **DuckDuckGo** , partial integration via Bing's index **Notably absent:** Google still doesn't participate. Google's ecosystem uses its own Indexing API (limited to JobPosting and BroadcastEvent schema) and the standard sitemap + crawl flow. **In practice:** IndexNow integration is cheap (one HTTP POST per URL change) and gets your content into Bing, and through Bing, ChatGPT search and Copilot, in minutes instead of days. Worth wiring up if your site has frequently-updated content. [indexnow.org/searchengines](https://www.indexnow.org/searchengines) ## Google's Documentation Quirks That Catch People Out A few things the official docs say that contradict common SEO advice: - **Meta keywords aren't used.** Confirmed by Google in 2009 and reaffirmed every couple of years. Stop adding them. - **Word count isn't a ranking factor.** Long content can rank because it covers more relevant subtopics, not because of length itself. - **The disavow tool is rarely needed.** Google's own docs since 2020 explicitly say most webmasters shouldn't need it. Use only if you have a manual action. - **Multiple H1s are technically allowed in HTML5.** The starter guide doesn't say "only one H1", that's SEO folklore. (Practitioner advice: still use one. [More on this](https://www.lawrencehitches.com/header-tags/) .) - **JavaScript-rendered content gets indexed.** Google renders JS; the older "JS = invisible to Google" advice is wrong as of 2018. There are still performance and discoverability trade-offs, but indexability isn't one of them. ## How to Use This Cheatsheet Three workflows: 1. **Quick fact-check.** Want to confirm what the official docs say about a specific topic? Use this page as a jump-off to the source. 2. **Stakeholder evidence.** When a client (or boss) pushes back on SEO advice, link them to the official source. Authority by reference. 3. **AI search context.** AI engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude) cite official documentation heavily. Building a clean reference page like this gets cited because it consolidates information across multiple authoritative sources. Part of [the complete cheatsheet library](https://www.lawrencehitches.com/cheatsheets/). ## FAQ: Official SEO Guidelines ### Where can I find Google's official SEO guidelines? Google's main hub is [Google Search Central](https://developers.google.com/search) (developers.google.com/search). The most-referenced pages are the SEO Starter Guide, the Search Essentials, the Spam Policies, and the structured data documentation. ### Does Bing have an equivalent to Google Search Central? Yes, [Bing Webmaster Guidelines](https://www.bing.com/webmasters/help/webmasters-guidelines-30fba23a). Less polished than Google's documentation, but worth reading because Bing now powers ChatGPT search, Copilot, and a growing share of AI-mediated traffic. ### Are Google Search Central guidelines requirements or recommendations? Mostly recommendations. The Spam Policies are enforceable rules (violations can trigger manual actions). The other documentation is best-practice guidance, sites can rank without following every recommendation, but following them increases the probability of strong organic performance. ### Does Google really not use meta keywords? Correct, Google has not used the meta keywords tag for ranking since 2009. [Officially confirmed](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2009/09/google-does-not-use-keywords-meta-tag) and reaffirmed multiple times since. Bing and other engines also ignore it. Stop adding meta keywords to your pages. ### What's the difference between rel="nofollow", rel="sponsored", and rel="ugc"? All three are link attributes that tell search engines not to pass full ranking equity. `rel="sponsored"` declares paid or affiliate relationships. `rel="ugc"` identifies user-generated content. `rel="nofollow"` is the generic catch-all. Google introduced the more specific tags in 2019 to encourage better classification, they all function similarly but provide more accurate signal. ### Is FAQPage schema still worth using? Yes, but for different reasons than in 2021. Google restricted FAQ rich results to government and health authority sites in 2023, most sites no longer get the visible SERP enhancement. However, AI search engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Google AI Overviews) parse FAQPage schema as a strong extraction signal. Mark up FAQs to feed AI citations, not for the SERP rich snippet. ### Which search engines participate in IndexNow? As of 2026: Bing, Yandex, Naver, Seznam, Yep, and (partially) DuckDuckGo. Google does not participate, they use their own Indexing API for limited content types and standard crawl for everything else. Implementing IndexNow gets your content into Bing's index (and through Bing, into ChatGPT search and Copilot) in minutes instead of days. ## Sources & Further Reading - [Google Search Central (full hub)](https://developers.google.com/search) - [Bing Webmaster Guidelines](https://www.bing.com/webmasters/help/webmasters-guidelines-30fba23a) - [Schema.org](https://schema.org/) - [IndexNow Protocol](https://www.indexnow.org/) - [MDN: Robots.txt](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Glossary/Robots.txt) ## Keep Reading - [Header Tags: SEO Best Practices for H1-H6](https://www.lawrencehitches.com/header-tags/) - [Robots.txt in 2026: AI Crawlers + Configuration](https://www.lawrencehitches.com/robotstxt/) - [Google vs Bing in 2026](https://www.lawrencehitches.com/google-vs-bing/) - [AI Citation Mechanics](https://www.lawrencehitches.com/ai-citation-mechanics/) Bookmark this SEO guidelines go-to reference: keep it handy for your next audit. --- *Lawrence Hitches is an independent AI SEO Consultant and General Manager at StudioHawk, Australia's most awarded SEO agency. Free 30-minute AI search consultation: https://www.lawrencehitches.com/ai-seo-consultant/* - Lawrence Hitches